


Sharing a Quiet Morning

by TimMcGee



Series: Culinary Adventures [3]
Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Eating Disorders, Fluff, Gen, Implied/ Referenced Past Abuse, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Sasha's Backstory, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, see notes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26222404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimMcGee/pseuds/TimMcGee
Summary: Wandering Damascus early in the morning leads to three things: a job offer, a piece of home, and a lesson in proper note writing.
Relationships: Sasha Racket & Oscar Wilde
Series: Culinary Adventures [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852498
Comments: 8
Kudos: 39





	Sharing a Quiet Morning

**Author's Note:**

> Eating Disorder is referencing Wilde's lack of appetite and not eating due to nausea similar to what is described in RQG, mentioned towards the end of the fic.
> 
> Implied/referenced past abuse + Sasha's backstory tag is for some implied magical abuse she suffered in her previous guardians' care, mentioned towards the end of the fic.
> 
> Thank you to my wonderful friend and editor!

Waking between one breath and the next, Sasha lays still, taking in the quietness of the room. Only the faint sounds of carts slowly rumbling down the street, and the soft, whistling snores of Grizzop pierce the quiet. 

Opening her eyes, Sasha scans the room faintly lit by the early morning sun, slowly sitting up when everything seems to be in place, barring the mess Grizzop made of his bed. Softly cracking her neck and loosening up her shoulders, Sasha can’t help but feel impressed with her various joints’ lack of aches and stiffness.

The curtains don’t even make a sound as she moves them aside to take in the occasional person walking by in the early dawn light. Feeling the urge to explore a new city, Sasha lets the curtain fall back in place and slips out of bed, quietly padding over to her bag. 

Within ten minutes of her being awake, Sasha is geared up and ready to go, but before she disappears into Damascus, she takes out a piece of scrap paper, writes a note, and leaves it in a place where Grizzop will find it when he wakes up.

Simply lockpicking the door shut behind her, Sasha makes her way out of the hotel, rolling her shoulders in restrained excitement as the cool morning breeze hits her. Slipping into the first narrow alley she sees, Sasha easily makes her way onto the roofs by bouncing between the two buildings until she reaches the roof’s lip and pulls herself over it.

The city lays sprawling in front of her, the far eastern sand color buildings lighting up beautifully with the morning sun just as the mountain peaks are beginning to glow. Sasha spends the first hour flicking between following merchant carts around the wealthier district as they make their drop-offs, and admiring how the city shimmers in the golden dawn. Eventually, Sasha gets bored of following carts in the affluent neighborhoods, and switches to following an empty one as it heads down what appears to be a small side street that quickly connects to a central road in the poorer neighborhoods.

Reaching a point where the roofs are becoming weaker and less maintained, Sasha leaps for the next lamp post, catching it and using her momentum to swing herself around till she lands softly. A quiet gasp triggers her defensive response, making Sasha whirl around as hands grasp at hidden daggers before she spots the little girl in the shop window staring at her with her mouth gaping open.

Straightening up and sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, Sasha awkwardly waves at the girl before hurrying away from more gasping followed by an elated shout of “Umma!”. Even though there aren't the immediate sounds of alarm, Sasha just starts winding her way through the various alleys and streets till she feels like she lost any possible tail.

Coming out a small alley, a loud thump followed by angry-sounding shouting draws her attention from the alley and towards a small dock where a group of people seem to be arguing over a crate. Wandering closer, Sasha assumes she’s come across a naval crew restocking for their next voyage at first until she peers around a large wooden crate. Sasha sees that the uniforms are too ratty and too hodgepodge to be proper naval uniforms like she saw in Dover, and they might be pirates.

Moving even closer with excitement for a new mystery, Sasha sees that they’re not arguing over the large crate sitting by the gangplank but rather over a barrel that seems to have been knocked off said crate and is now slowly leaking on to the dock. The argument begins picking up as a human roughly shoves another person away, making the rest of the group shout, and some start reaching for weapons. Then a piercing whistle breaks up the fight before it can start. Everyone immediately freezes and slowly turns to face the tall figure standing at the top of the gangplank.

“What the  _ fuck _ is going on?” A surprisingly soft and nearly melodious voice calls out to the crew as several begin to fidget in place, “I do believe I said we  _ must _ keep a low-profile. So…Hmmm...Emerson, care to explain what the fuck is going on here?”

“Ummm, well, ah you-you see Captain….we-we um there was a mishap with the barrel and-and well you-you know us...just a couple of hotheads…” The human that had started the shoving timidly speaks as they fiddle with their sash as the Captain finishes her descent down the gangplank. Humming softly in acknowledgment, the Captain easily makes her way towards the barrel as the crew move out of the way for her, before she swiftly hefts the barrel up and sets it on the crate with such ease that Sasha would think it was empty if it weren’t for the sloshing noise it made.

Wiping off the excess leakage, the Captain inspects the barrel before flicking out a dagger that shimmers unusually in the light that she uses to pry the lid off. Sasha is greatly disappointed when the Captain flicks the dagger back into her coat but returns her attention to the barrel as the Captain inspects the contents.

“Damn. Looks like we’ll ‘ve to lose about half this barrel and we don’t have time to see if anyone will buy ‘em,” the Captain pauses as she examines the river briefly before continuing, “We got ‘bout an hour, most likely less, to get out ‘fore the city sucks it dry again.”

“What should we do, Cap’n?”

“Unless you want only to be eating eels for the rest of the day, dump it,” Sasha perks up as she watches the Captain reach in, grab an eel, and begins eating it as she steps aside while a couple of the crew step towards the barrel.

“Um, I’ll-I’ll take a couple of ‘em eels off your hands…” Sasha says, hovering just out of the shadows, prepared to take off if things start looking bad. A couple of the crew stumble as they all turn to look at Sasha, completely startled and flat-footed by her ‘sudden’ appearance. The Captain simply cocks her head, eyes briefly flashing a deep green color, before she smiles with teeth just momentarily too sharp for human teeth.

“Hmmm, and who might you be?”

“Sasha, who’s askin’?”

“Well, Sasha, I’m Captain Annabelle, and it seems like you have stumbled across our humble operation here,” stepping back in front of her crew, Annabelle continues, weaving her magic into her words so that this  _ Sasha _ will speak truthfully, “What do you  _ want _ ?”

“It’s alright, mate, I just want some eels,” Sasha doesn’t even notice the magic as she answers without hesitation.

“Really?” Annabelle raises an eyebrow before shrugging and relaxing her shoulders as she gestures to Sasha to come closer, “Not too often we come across someone who wants eels this far inland.”

“Dunno why. Eels are good,” Sasha stalks forward, watching everyone just as much as they are watching her. Annabelle’s eyes flash with magic again, watching Sasha slink towards them before slightly turning back to her crew, “Get back to work! We set out shortly. Emerson and Parker stay behind.”

With various forms of obedience, some of the crew return to the ship carrying the last remaining couple of crates while a few focus on the moorings tying the ship to the dock. The human who had spoken before comes to stand next to Annabelle along with a fierce-looking halfling as Sasha reaches them and Annabelle gestures to the open barrel.

“So, Sasha, how many eels are ya looking for? Unfortunately, we don’t have anything to put them in.”

“Oh, that’s alright. I got loads of jars,” Sasha’s bag appears in her hand before disappearing as three jars are sat on the crate, “I nicked ‘em back in Dover from Barnes ‘cause he arrested my mate, you see, and like I told Zolf that I could break ‘im out, but he was all like ‘it’ll be fine’.”

Annabelle raises an eyebrow at Sasha’s sleight of hand before lifting the other at her simple admission of stealing from the British Navy. Despite the desire to know more, Annabelle knows they’re on a strict schedule and decides to cut through any haggling, “Impressive. Ok, for filling those three jars...How about 6 gold?”

“Alright, cheers!”

Tilting her head, Annabelle watches Sasha easily procures the money, placing it in the middle of the crate. With a quick flick of her wrist, the gold pieces are in her hand, and she bites one, testing the gold with her magic and teeth. 

Nodding at Sasha, Annabelle steps back and signals Parker to fill the jars as she sends Emerson off to fetch something. Sasha watches as the human runs off before turning her attention to the halfling as they begin filling her jars with eels. 

The human returns, handing a small pouch to Annabelle before hunching over to catch their breath, just as Sasha hides the last jar in her bag. Annabelle gives an amused look at Emerson, before opening the pouch briefly, “Emerson, you should  _ really _ start training with Parker.”

“...I’m...the navigator…. Captain…”

Huffing with amusement, Annabelle pats them on the head as she steps forward, offering the small pouch to Sasha, “I thought I’d throw in an extra treat since you’re taking these off our hands.”

Accepting the pouch, Sasha opens it to see dark red flakes inside and cocks her head in confusion before giving Annabelle a questioning look. Annabelle grabs a handful of eels, rounds the crate to take a pinch of the flakes, and sprinkles them over the eels before offering one to Sasha, “They’re dried Aleppo peppers. Gives the eels a nice bit of heat, along with whatever else you put them on.”

Taking a bite after Annabelle does, Sasha’s eyes widen with delight at the saltiness of the eel mixing wonderfully with the slightly sweeter peppers before the heat starts to creep up. Eagerly sprinkling more flakes on the rest of her eel, Sasha gives an amused Annabelle a thumbs up even as Sasha’s eyes begin to water as the spice makes itself known.

“Yeah, it’s best to start with a bit cause the spice does sneak up on you.”

“Captain!” A crewmember shouts from the deck before hand signaling to her that they’re ready to take off. Signaling back, the crew member disappears from view as Annabelle turns to Parker and Emerson and gestures to the barrel and crate sitting there.

“Well, Sasha, pleasure meeting you, but we must be off.”

“Yeah, alright, nah, yeah, cheers. Thanks for the eels.”

As Emerson and Parker grab the barrel and crate and make their way onto the ship, Annabelle offers Sasha her hand. Cautiously accepting the handshake, Sasha is surprised by the cool, almost scaly feel of Annabelle’s hand that she misses the flaring of magic in Annabelle’s eyes.

“Tell you what, Sasha. If you’re ever looking for some work, I’ll take you aboard.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m great on boats! Like, me ‘nd my mates, we had to sail thru that storm off Dover for a bet, which we would’ve won if H’mid walked faster, but ya know-“

“Sasha, I’m actually sorry to cut you off, but I have to set sail. The river is starting to dry up,” Annabelle shoots the river a dirty look for limiting her time with someone who’s apparently sailed through the Dover storm for a bet. The temptation is there to press harder, to weave her magic and convince Sasha to come with, but with what little she’s already gleaned, she knows they’d never make it out of Damascus with Sasha on board.

Understanding, Sasha just nods. Giving her one last look, Annabelle quickly makes her way up the gangplank before disappearing from view as the crew begin pulling the plank back and finish untying the moors. For a moment, Sasha watches the ship drift to the middle of the river while the crew complete their tasks and take their positions on the deck.

A piercing whistle yanks Sasha’s attention away from the crew to where Annabelle is standing at the back of the ship. Catching the Captain’s gaze, Sasha watches as blue-gray magic swirls in her outstretched hand before shooting out and sinking into the river.

Quirking an eyebrow at Annabelle when nothing immediately happens, Sasha watches Annabelle smirk before giving her a cocky salute and clenching her fist causing the river to swell around the ship. With a final wink, Annabelle relaxes her fist and the ship shoots down the river, picking up some speed from the swell of water before disappearing around the first bend.

As the river returns to normal, Sasha feels a flash of excitement and something else that she struggles to name at the pocket full of eels and the prospect of having somewhere to go in the future. Slipping back down the alley, Sasha nearly hums in excitement at her ability to finally share a piece of her home with her friends.

Her happy excitement lasts until she reaches the more active part of the city and is suddenly reminded that it’s still early, and most likely, her friends are still sleeping. Stopping at the street corner, Sasha sulkily kicks a rock as she watches various people slowly and quietly begin their days and ready their shops.

A short bang draws Sasha’s attention down the side street to a small alcove where a couple is kissing in the doorway. Watching as the taller man pulls away laughing before picking up his dropped briefcase and teasingly kissing his partner’s pout away, Sasha remembers that Wilde is here and is probably awake looking through the files they got from the factory.

As the smaller man pushes his laughing partner away with a sigh, Sasha begins making her way towards the meritocratic offices with a bounce in her step. Within minutes, Sasha is on a roof opposite the Meritocratic building watching a handful of people slip past the guards as they enter the building.

Effortlessly Sasha uses the morning shadows to stealth up to the side of the stairs before throwing a rock and slipping inside while the guard’s head is turned. Pausing on the other side of the door, Sasha surveys the empty foyer as she carefully guides the door shut.

Soft clanging from a softly lit doorway off of the front desk’s side tells Sasha where the clerk must be. Sasha swiftly makes her way down the corridor, briefly stopping to swipe some blank papers just in case she runs into anyone else. 

Sasha is a little disappointed when the second door she checks is the temporary office that Wilde has taken over, but unraveling the magic layered lock makes up for the short exploration. Feeling the magic give, Sasha effortlessly picks the physical lock and pushes the door open within seconds, only to see a swirling mass of magic.

“‘Ey, Wilde.”

“...........Sasha,” Wilde sighs, letting his spell fizzle out as he watches her stand and enter his overcrowded office, “What do you need?”

Already poking and prodding various objects, Sasha takes a moment to answer much to Wilde’s mounting frustrations, “Hmmm, oh nothing, really. Everyone else is still sleepin’, and I already explored and found some interestin’ people down by the river-”

“Then why are you  _ here _ , Sasha.”

“....Don’ know, just-just thought I, don’ know, maybe spend some time together?” Looking at Wilde’s annoyed face, Sasha wilts slightly. There’s a moment of silence before Wilde sighs deeply and slumps back in his chair while gesturing to the cramped space.

“Have a box. Maybe you can figure out why Hamid decided to have hundreds of files shipped to me.”

After shifting a couple of boxes off a small cabinet, Sasha perches in the corner and pulls the closest box to her as Wilde returns to a stack of papers on his desk. Comfortable silence fills the office, only broken by the scratching of Wilde’s pen and Sasha flipping through documents.

By the time Sasha finishes flipping through the files in her box, the sun has fully lit the room, and more people are moving about in the hallway. Briefly watching Wilde absentmindedly chew on his pen as he goes over various reports, Sasha sees how much more worn down he looks now than when she last saw him in Prague. 

Despite the increase in people moving and working within the building, it’s still laughably easy for Sasha to find the kitchen, make some tea, and bring it back to the office without running into anyone. Setting a mug down on the desk for Wilde, Sasha returns to her perch on the cabinet and her stack of papers. Wilde’s hand jerks sharply when it brushes the still warm side of the mug before he flicks Sasha a calculating look.

Sasha raises her eyebrows in response and wiggles her own mug of tea at him from her spot on the cabinet. Raising his own in response, Wilde cautiously takes a sip and tries not to marvel at Sasha’s perceptiveness when he tastes mint, which is the only kind he can stomach nowadays.

Looking at her hunched over her own stack of papers, fiddling with a pen that was definitely in his desk, Wilde relaxes slightly for the first time in weeks as someone is finally helping him. The comfortable silence once again fills the office, and for once, Wilde doesn’t feel the near suffocating pressure of loneliness as he works through the conflicting field reports of other Meritocratic operatives.

It’s the taste of ink that breaks Sasha’s focus on deciphering some of the coded pages as she presses the wrong end of the pen to her lips. Nose crinkling in distaste, Sasha wipes her mouth harshly before finishing off her tea in an effort to get rid of the taste. 

A quick look at Wilde tells Sasha that he’s only focused on the reports and she relaxes. Glancing at her meager scratch work, Sasha frowns at the lack of progress she’s made in deciphering the code. 

Grumbling, Sasha jams her hand into her bag, looking for one of the notebooks she grabbed earlier when her hand brushes a jar, and she suddenly feels the slight gnawing in her stomach. 

The jar of eels followed by the notebook gets set on the cabinet as Sasha calls over to Wilde, “Ay, Wilde, I got some eels earlier, want some?”

“Hmmmm? Sure, Sasha.”

Despite Wilde’s distracted answer, Sasha quickly finds and roughly cleans a plate from the mess surrounding his desk and places a couple of eels on it. Plate in hand, Sasha turns and pauses, giving Wilde a considering look before turning back and swiftly slices the eels into bite-size pieces.

Simply placing the plate next to his mug and swiping another pen, Sasha returns to her corner and takes out the spice pouch to sprinkle on her own eels. Eyes closing as she savors the saltiness and slow-building heat of the eels, Sasha misses Wilde absently reaching over, taking one of the smaller pieces, and popping it into his mouth.

Wilde hums in delight, and Sasha watches as he eats another piece as he continues to write and focus on the reports. Smiling softly, pleased that another of her friends has good taste, Sasha rolls her shoulder, cracks her fingers, and dives back into trying to decipher the code, occasionally munching on an eel.

The next two hours pass in a similar comfortable manner, only broken by a plate shattering after Wilde knocked it while trying to reach for another stack of papers. Jolted by the harsh noise, Wilde stares blankly at the broken chunks of pottery until Sasha speaks up.

“You alright?”

“Hmm? Ah, yes, yes, I’m fine. Just...where did the plate come from?”

“Don’t worry, it’s like mostly clean. I did wipe it off ‘fore putting food on it,” Sasha says as she stretches and loudly pops her back much to Wilde’s dismay. 

“That’s- Wait, what food?”

“Oh! Right, so like earlier ‘fore I joined you, I was wandering around cause like you always have to explore a new city, and it’s easier goin’ alone cause have you seen the rest of our group? Anyways, I mentioned earlier that I found some interestin’ people down by the river, and they had some eels for sale! It’s been so long since we had some good eels and like-”

“Eels?” Wilde quietly says to himself as he watches an animated Sasha rave about various eels she’s had and marvels to himself that he’s comfortably full and not nauseous for the first time in weeks. Unintentionally cutting Sasha off by being louder than intended, Wilde says to himself, “Let’s see if I can keep this down.”

“Hey...Wilde,” looking at Sasha in panic as he realizes what happened, Wilde cannot help but flinch at the stark look of understanding and kindness in her eyes as she continues, “There’s...there’s a reason why I grew up eatin’ eels. When you’ve gone days without food cause they broke your hand when- you just learn the signs of…. Eels just work. They fill you up without needin’ a bunch. They-they don’t make your stomach turn when they’re the only thing you’ve eaten… They just help.”

“Sasha, I-” Wilde finds himself choking on his words as fear begins clawing its way up his throat as he realizes just how far Sasha has gotten behind his carefully crafted walls. Silence fills the room as Wilde scrabbles to find words and Sasha carefully doesn’t fidget, waiting for Wilde to break the silence.

“Work has been- I am fine just a little- you-you... Are you sure you don’t have magic?” Despite his weak attempt at humor, Wilde knows that this question has been lingering on his mind. Though he feels dread growing as a thousand-yard stare develops in Sasha’s eyes before she softly answers.

“You know, you’re not the first person to wonder...or nowhere near the first...But… I’m-I’m not.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine. Like I said, you’re not the first…..Heh, at least you asked.”

“Well, how else would I find out?” Shooting her a puzzled look, Wilde begins to fiddle with his pen, feeling better that the focus is away from him. Her hand’s aborted move to her other wrist where her jacket only partially covers a faded, scarred rune, letting Wilde know exactly what others did to find out. “Sasha, that’s inhumane for-for anyone to experience! You could’ve died even if you had magic!”

“Wilde, it’s fine. Most of them are gone and-and the ones that aren’t, can’t find me.”

“Sasha-”

“Look, ummm, I-I should be gettin’ back before they get too worried, and-” Sasha stops herself as a loud commotion in the hall has both her and Wilde looking at the door in varying levels of concern. Then the door swings open.

“Oscar! Sasha is missing!” Hamid barges into Wilde’s office with Grizzop and Azu following behind him and knocking over a couple of box towers that burst open, spilling paperwork everywhere. 

“Good morning, Hamid. How are you? I’m doing quite splendid this morning-”

“Enough, Oscar! Did you not hear me? Sasha is missing!” Hamid tries to look intimidating as he stands next to Grizzop at the front of Wilde’s desk. Grizzop smiles with his teeth, which gives Wilde more pause as he considers his answer while looking behind them at where Sasha is perched.

“Come on, Wilde. Chop-chop, we got Sasha to find, a factory to inspect, and the world to save. Ya know, useful things.”

“It’s alright, Grizzop. Didn’t you get my note?” The trio all whip their heads around to Sasha as she hops off the cabinet before all shouting, “Sasha!”

As Grizzop collides into her legs for a hug and Azu steps on various slipped files to hover near her, Hamid turns to glare at Wilde, “Why didn’t you just say she was here! We have been looking for an hour already.”

Giving Hamid an unimpressed look, Wilde says in a clearly mocking tone, “Well, I would’ve thought this...elite mercenary group would be able to spot a second person inside this office.”

Sasha’s short laugh covers Hamid’s huff before she addresses Grizzop, “I don’ know why you were so worried. I left a note.”

“A note?! Sasha! That wasn’t a note. It-it was, ummmm-” Grizzop flounders before Hamid cuts in.

“It was literally 2 words pinned to the door with a knife!”

“Oh, yeah! Can I get that back?” The three of them all give Sasha a different Look when she stretches her hand out for her dagger. After a moment of her waiting and no one moving, Wilde cannot help but release a snort of amusement at the ridiculous scene.

Grizzop hands Sasha her dagger as he rolls his eyes while Hamid turns back to Wilde, firing off a clipped comment before leaving, “Well, Oscar, looks like you have a ways to go examining these files for important information on the adamantine distribution.  _ We _ have another factory to investigate, and we don’t want to disturb any more of  _ your  _ work.”

Relaxed now that they found Sasha, Azu mumbles a couple of apologies as she restacks a couple of the boxes as she follows Hamid out. Grizzop starts to follow, grumbling about proper notes, but stops in the doorway when he notices that Sasha isn’t following, “Sasha, we got to go.”

Making her way towards the door, Sasha hesitates at Wilde’s desk, where he’s sat back with his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, but he waves her on. When the door quietly clicks shut, Wilde lets out a long groan as he presses the palms of his hands into his eyes, hoping to stop the headache Hamid always seems to give him.

Eventually, Wilde takes his hands away and looks at the mess that is his office now. Wilde gets up with a begrudging sigh and begins the slow process of picking up the scattered files and papers. Reaching the cabinet where Sasha was working and grabbing the last errant sheet of paper, Wilde stands up, cracking his back and finally spotting the jar and the note.

Reading the note, Wilde cannot help but chuckle as he understands what Grizzop was ranting about. Taking the jar and the file hidden underneath, Wilde heads back to his desk and stores the jar in a drawer before looking over Sasha’s impressive start on deciphering the code. 

Outside, listening to Hamid and Grizzop gripe about Wilde and their late start on heading up to the other factory, Sasha gives Azu a small smile when she asks how her morning was. Glancing at her warm, smiling face, Sasha quickly turns her attention away as a blush creeps it’s way across her cheeks before slowly talking about the interesting cipher she was working on.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for all kudos and comments!
> 
> The note Sasha left for Grizzop said "Out -Sasha".
> 
> I tried my best with researching specific cultural things for Damascus, but please let me know if I got anything terribly wrong.


End file.
